What Took Us So Long
by pinkpen23
Summary: <html><head></head>The first fic I've ever written.  It takes place the evening after the war ends.  One-shot</html>


A/N: I've never done this before! Reviews would be lovely!

Hermione sat by the lake thinking. The war was over. They had won. Harry had lived. They all had so much to be grateful for. There were also dreadful things that had happened though. Fred, Lupin, and Tonks died, along with countless others. Little Teddy Lupin would never know his parents. Hermione felt a tear fall down her cheek as she thought of this.

Her mind then switched to something else that had happened, amidst all the death and destruction. She and Ron had kissed. Simple as that. He had wanted to save the house elves. Hearing this, Hermione could not restrain herself. She ran right to him and kissed him right on the lips. He seemed to take pleasure in it and kiss her back. But now she wasn't so sure.

She re-lived the moment over and over in her head. She felt absolutely horrible for thinking about their kiss among all the bad things that had just happened, but she could not help it. She loved Ron. She'd discovered her feelings for him around third year and they had only increased in time. She had try to keep them in the depths of her heart and even tried to get over them. But she couldn't. Something in her told her that she was meant to be with him. But was he meant to be with her? Did he _want _to be with her? Hermione desperately wanted to ask Ron this, but she knew she couldn't. Ron had to be with his family right now and Hermione understood this. Fred had died. Ron needed to mourn with his family; he did not need any distractions from a lovesick girl.

These thoughts continued to trail through Hermione's head as she played with the grass with her hands. Hogwarts and its grounds were truly beautiful. She had not realized how much she had missed the school until now. She had made some of the best memories here. She had met Ron here.

As she continued to run her fingers through the grass, Hermione heard footsteps behind her. Her heart leapt and she prayed that it was Ron, coming to talk to her. She made the instant decision to pretend she did not hear the footsteps. She did not want Ron to think that she had been desperately waiting for him to come and talk to her. She was determined to play it cool.

"Hey," said the voice from right behind her.

Hermione turned around at the sound of the voice. It was not Ron. It was Harry. Hermione felt foolish for thinking Ron would talk to her at a time like this.

"Hi Harry," Hermione said quietly.

Harry sat next to Hermione on the fresh green grass. They sat in a thoughtful silence for a moment and then Harry spoke. "I know how you feel."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, confused.

"I want to talk to Ginny. She's the one person I've yet to talk to. I want to tell her everything. And I know you want to talk to Ron too. You're just scared you're going to invade on the Weasley's family time, right?"

Hermione laughed a little. "Harry, you hit the nail on the head."

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks. So about that kiss…"

Hermione felt her cheeks burning. Harry had witnessed her and Ron's kiss. "I'm sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable. I honestly did not even know what I was doing. He said he wanted to save the elves and I just kind of lost it."

"Honestly Hermione, I've been waiting for that to happen for months now. I would have thought it would have happened by now."

"Yeah," Hermione responded thoughtfully. Then she added, "But does Ron really like me?"

Harry turned to her in shock. "Hermione, are you kidding? You are the smartest witch of our generation and you have to ask that question?"

"I don't know Harry, I just don't know. I just feel like maybe he loves me like he loves Ginny. You know, like a sister?"

"And how would that explain the kiss?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I kissed him," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, but you didn't see him stopping you, did you? Hermione, you know Ron. He's weird when it comes to his feelings. He was probably too scared to make a move. Especially after running out on us. I still think he feels guilty about that."

Hermione shuddered when she thought of Ron running out on them. It had been one of the worst pains she had ever experienced. Her heart felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces after he had run out on her and Harry.

"I guess you're right," she told him. "I guess I have a difficult time believing that this—Ron and me—is actually happening. I've been waiting for so long."

"I know," he said smiling at her and patting her on the back.

They sat quietly for a few minutes in a peaceful silence, collecting their thoughts. Then they both heard another pair of footsteps. Hermione did not even bother trying to play cool. She turned around, praying to see Ron walking towards her.

She was wrong, however. It was Ginny. Hermione smiled at her friend, but secretly felt envious of Harry. He was finally getting to talk to her.

"Hey," Ginny said softly, not wishing to interrupt the wonderful peace that Hogwarts had not seen in a long time.

"Hey Ginny," said Harry and Hermione together.

"Harry, I was wondering if I could talk to you. Would that be okay?" Ginny asked him.

"Yes," Harry said, jumping to his feet.

"We'll be back in a little while," Ginny told Hermione.

"Okay," Hermione replied, as she watched her two friends walk away.

When was Ron going to come? She felt the desperate need to talk to him. About _everything._ All the intense thinking, paired with her great lack of sleep, made Hermione's eyelids droop. A sudden wave of exhaustion came over her and she decided to lie down in the grass. She fell asleep quickly and entered a comfortable sleep.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes. She had no idea how long she had slept. Probably an hour if she guessed. She then turned to her other side and saw a large pair of shoes connected to a long pair of legs. She sat up and saw Ron sitting next to her, staring down at her.

Their eyes met and Hermione saw Ron's ears go red. She smiled at this cute trait and sat up straight.

"Hello sleepy head," he said, smiling at her.

"Hey," she responded, still surprised to find him sitting next to her. "How long have you been sitting here?"

"I don't know. About twenty minutes, I guess," he replied.

Hermione did not speak for a moment. She wanted to ask about his family, but she thought that that might be treading on uncomfortable territory. At the same time, though, she knew she could not just launch a conversation about their pending relationship without making sure he and his family was okay. Luckily, he spoke.

"My family's going to be okay. Hogwarts has decided to have a big funeral for all those who died fighting. It's going to be tonight."

The tone of his voice was unreadable. She could not tell whether it was safe for her to speak, so she kept silent.

"I think it's a good decision," Ron continued. "We'll all be able to put them to rest together. Like a family."

"Like a family," Hermione repeated.

"I mean, that's what we've all become isn't it? What we've done here has left an unbreakable connection between all of us. It's something everyone here will share."

Hermione had never heard Ron speak so eloquently before. It brought tears to her eyes.

"Hermione, don't cry!" Ron exclaimed, pulling her into him. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know," she told him, taking in his comforting and familiar smell.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, with worry in his voice.

Now she felt really horrible. Ron had lost a brother and here he was, asking _her_ if _she_ was okay. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

"Yes," she said, wiping her tears off of her face. "Are _you_ okay?"

"I don't know," he replied, "But I will be."

Hermione felt a surge of relief rushing over her. They were one step closer to what she wanted to discuss with him.

"Good," she replied, resting her head on his shoulder. There was quiet between them for a moment, and then Ron spoke up.

"Look," Ron began. "I think we need to talk about what happened."

Hermione felt her heart leap with nervousness. She lifted her head off of his shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "I agree."

Ron sat there for a moment, thinking of what to say next. Hermione watched him intently and could tell he was deciding how to open up this topic. When he finally did, he took such a big gulp of breath, Hermione heard it and stared at him intently.

"I'm sorry I ran out on you."

This was not what Hermione had expected him to say. She expected him to say something about this kiss or about their pending relationship. Not something that had happened months ago.

"What?" she asked him.

"I said that I was sorry for running out on you."

"Oh…right," Hermione said.

"And I felt so bad for doing it, Hermione. I still feel bad. You have to understand though. The locket was putting crazy thoughts in my head. I thought you loved Harry."

"Loved Harry?" Hermione repeated incredulously.

Ron's ears turned red again as he continued. "And then right before I destroyed the locket, it spoke to me. It was You Know-, it was Voldemort taunting me through the locket. He told me that you and Harry were better off without me. That you loved each other. And then…"

"And then what, Ron?"

"And then you and Harry kissed. Well, not the _real _you and not the _real_ Harry, but Horcrux versions. It was horrible."

There was silence for a moment, while Hermione digested this. She had no idea that any of this had ever happened. Harry had never told her. She guessed she could see why.

Ron took another deep break and looked right into Hermione's eyes. He grabbed one of her hands in both of his and said, "Hermione, you kissed me. What did that mean?"

"What does it mean?" Hermione asked him, shocked. "What do you mean, 'what does it mean?'"

"Was it just your enthusiasm for the house elves-''

"What?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Was it just your enthusiasm for the house elves," he repeated, "or was it something more?"

"Ron, how could you even ask that? It was more. Of course it was more."

"Right," he said softly. "I was hoping so."

Hermione felt her heart jump at those words. This was the conversation she had been waiting to have with him for months, years really.

More silence fell between them as they both sorted out their thoughts. Both thought about what to say next, but could not find the right words to say it. From where Hermione was, she could see Harry and Ginny coming towards them, their fingers entwined. They noticed her and Ron and quietly walked back the way they came.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Hermione decided to speak. "Did you like me during the Tri-Wizard Tournament? During the Yule Ball?"

"Yes," Ron answered immediately.

"During sixth year when you were with Lavender?"

"Yes," Ron answered again, just as quickly.

"Then Ron," she said, "What has taken us so long?"

Ron looked at Hermione with a small smile on his face. He loved the way she just came out with what he wanted so desperately to say himself. He loved her.

"I don't know Hermione. I wish it wouldn't have taken us so long. I wish we wouldn't have wasted so much damn time fighting. I wish I would have kissed you years ago."

"Really?" Hermione asked. Her heart was beating at an insanely fast rate.

"Really Hermione. Really."

And with that, Ron kissed Hermione. He held her face gently in his heads and kissed her with a passion, neither of them knew it was possible to feel.

They let go of each other after a few moments, but Ron put his arm around Hermione to keep the closeness between them locked. The sun was beginning to set over the lake. It was beautiful. Hermione had never appreciated the view as much as she did now. This was where she met Ron. This is where they kissed. This is where they entered their relationship. This was the most important place in her life. Again, she leaned her head on Ron's shoulder.

All was not right with the world. They had all just experienced a great deal of suffering that was not going to disappear anytime soon. They all had demons they still needed to conquer; however, Hermione's happiness with Ron seemed to make the bad things a little better.

The sun continued to set and then Ron realized that the funeral was going to be tonight.

"Hermione, the funeral will probably be beginning soon."

"Oh, that's right," she responded.

Ron stood up first and then helped Hermione to her feet. As she stood up, she thanked him by kissing him on the lips.

**A/N: Like I said, reviews would be awesome! Any positive criticism I will gladly take.**


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